Entertainment Era: Starting with Teaching Sister Meng to Sing

"Second sister-in-law is here, please have a seat."

When Ma Xiaoping entered the room, her third uncle, Wang Jianjun, who was sitting by the bed, quickly got up to greet her.

Wang Xiaozhou followed his mother to the bedside in a daze, his mind replaying the mechanical voice from earlier. He felt incredibly lucky; the reborn's potential was fully realized.

But why is Meng Ziyi in her third aunt's hospital room? Didn't the records from her previous life say that she came from a wealthy family? The two shouldn't have any connection.

The butterfly effect of rebirth?

Just like Jay Chou, Jonathan Lee, and Andy Lau and director Chou disappeared, Meng Ziyi's background in this world has also changed?

"Second sister-in-law, here, have an orange."

While Ma Xiaoping and her third aunt Zhang Juan were exchanging pleasantries, Wang Jianjun peeled an orange and handed it to her. The orange was peeled very carefully, without a single white line on it, and it was plump and cute.

"Brother-in-law, didn't I tell you not to peel oranges like this? Most of the vitamins are in the white pith, so eating them like this means you lose all the nutrition."

Wang Xiaozhou, who had been sitting next to his mother, looked up and looked at Meng Ziyi with a puzzled expression.

Brother-in-law?

Wang Jianjun smiled and then introduced Ma Xiaoping:

"This is Juan'er's cousin. Her parents passed away early, and she lived with Juan'er's family since she was a child. She was raised by Juan'er."

"It really is the butterfly effect; Meng Ziyi's family background is completely different in the two worlds," Wang Xiaozhou thought to himself.

Ma Xiaoping smiled and exchanged pleasantries: "Little..."

"Mencius remembers, little Meng."

Seeing that Ma Xiaoping was stuck, Meng Ziyi added a sentence.

"Xiao Meng is such a good-looking kid."

Ma Xiaoping made a compliment, and then the atmosphere became awkward, with no one knowing what to say next.

Given the atmosphere, Wang Jianjun roughly guessed Ma Xiaoping's purpose. His third uncle, a former soldier, was always a respectable man and spoke up readily.

"Second sister-in-law, I've been spending all that money from your family for a year now. The factory just gave out year-end bonuses a few days ago. Wait a moment, I'll go get the money. You can take it home directly so I don't have to come to your house to deliver it."

Ma Xiaoping wanted to be polite, but lacked confidence, so she could only force a smile.

The third aunt on the hospital bed turned her head away, tears falling directly onto the pillow. She knew her family's situation. She was taking leave every day. There was no year-end bonus at the factory. It was good enough that they were being paid their basic salary. Her husband was definitely going to borrow money again.

Seeing the silence in the ward, Wang Xiaozhou finally had a chance to talk to Meng Ziyi. Just like a greeting between classmates, Wang Xiaozhou spoke directly.

"Excuse me, what grade are you in?"

Meng Ziyi looked up at Wang Xiaozhou. Despite her changed family background, her generosity and straightforwardness remained.

"I'm a senior in high school, and the college entrance exam is just six months away."

"I'm also a senior in high school. You don't go to school in the county town, right? I've never seen you before."

"It's in the county town, but I plan to pursue art, so I don't usually go to school."

"No wonder, add a 'whoosh' sound."

While they were talking, Wang Xiaozhou kept an eye on Meng Ziyi's favorability towards him in the system. When he learned that he had come with his mother to ask for money, the favorability did not drop. In fact, after a couple of polite words, it even increased by 2%. So he decisively suggested exchanging contact information.

Meng Ziyi carried a pen with her. She tore off a corner of the medicine box on the table, wrote a string of numbers on it, and handed it to Wang Xiaozhou in a generous manner.

"I've heard of you. Let's add each other after the college entrance exam. I'm afraid it will affect my studies."

Under his mother's surprised gaze, Wang Xiaozhou casually stuffed the note into his back pocket: "I'll add you at an internet cafe later."

Wang Jianjun returned, clutching a thin envelope in his hand, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Second sister-in-law, my bank card has reached its limit. I'll send you the extra 10,000 next week, is that alright?"

This proud man would never admit that he had gone out and borrowed money from everyone around him, but only managed to borrow 10,000 yuan.

Ma Xiaoping isn't the type to push people to the brink. She only asked her third brother for money because she was truly struggling financially. Now that 10,000 yuan is enough to get through the winter, she's no longer in a hurry to ask for more money, and she can maintain a bit more decorum among relatives.

"What are you talking about? I didn't come here for money. You can use the remaining ten thousand yuan first, and I'll give you whatever you need whenever you need it."

Wang Jianjun wanted to be polite, but he was even less confident than Ma Xiaoping had been earlier, so he could only force a smile and thank her.

As they left the hospital, Ma Xiaoping, with one foot on her bicycle, questioned Wang Xiaozhou: "How come I've heard of that Xiao Meng? Are you doing something bad that your father and I don't know about?"

Wang Xiaozhou said naturally, "Comrade Xiaoping, please think of your son in a positive light. She has heard of me; is it possible that it's because I'm a good student?"

"hehe."

Ma Xiaoping looked at Wang Xiaozhou with disdain, her nostrils squinting at him.

Wang Xiaozhou held out his hand: "Give me a hundred yuan, I'm going to go play with my classmates, and I'll go home tonight."

Ma Xiaoping pulled a red bill from the envelope and slapped it on him. Then she put her left foot on the bicycle pedal and pedaled with her right foot until the bicycle started to slide. She swung her right leg in mid-air, making a round motion. By the time she was actually riding the bicycle, she was already twenty or thirty meters away from Wang Xiaozhou.

"You can only spend ten yuan; the rest you can go downstairs and pick out a cotton-padded coat!"

Wang Xiaozhou smiled as he watched his mother's departing figure. When Meng Ziyi mentioned that she had heard about him, he wasn't worried at all about being discovered for doing something bad. His parents were always the easiest to fool.

Along the way, Wang Xiaozhou bought ten grilled sausages at the supermarket entrance. He then arrived at the abandoned two-story building in front of the station. He shook his hands twice at the entrance, and the rustling sound of the plastic bags attracted a large herd of livestock.

"Hey bro! What brings you to the county town? We were all planning to chip in a couple of days to come back to the village to find you."

"And grilled sausages, these are for us to improve our meals."

"Are you coming home tonight, bro? If not, I'm going to steal two hundred yuan from your house so we can go get some skewers."

......

Looking at the group of young men in front of him, Wang Xiaozhou felt as if he had truly returned to his glorious eighteen-year-old self, his childhood friends with whom he had grown up.

It's a pity that those who started it all ended up in bad shape.

That short-haired blond guy was hacked to death on his twentieth birthday.

The guy with the white vest welded to his body got into a second-tier university, but couldn't find a job because of his criminal record, so he became a barbecue chef.

The one with shoulder-length hair parted in the middle later developed a leg disability and worked as a mechanic in a car repair shop.

However, his own fate wasn't good either. After serving three years in prison, he stayed at home and was still sponging off his parents right before he transmigrated.

Thankfully, this time we can choose a new path during this chaotic and degenerate age.

Two sausages were given to each person, and Wang Xiaozhou then spoke.

"Go ask around at the school gate, post on social media at internet cafes, ask at billiard halls, everyone figure it out yourselves. Before dark, I need to know all the information about an art student named Meng Ziyi."

The blond-haired guy slammed the sausage skewers on the ground: "Are you going to beat him up? I'm going home to get a knife!"

After a long pause, Wang Xiaozhou finally managed to utter a response: "I'll have to do this myself."